[Crude Mana Potion (E-)]

[Alchemists never worried about money. Alchemists had no interest in money.]

—Albert

Gurgle, gurgle...

Flames licked at the bottom of the crucible, while the water inside had long since come to a boil.

Lan Qingyou stood before the crucible outside the house, continuously stirring the liquid inside clockwise with a branch about three fingers thick.

It had already been six hours since she lit the fire.

The branch in her hand had been picked up four hours ago when she went to fetch water, specifically to keep the medicinal liquid in the pot from boiling dry.

Was brewing medicine fun? It certainly was.

But it was also tedious.

After repeating the same motion countless times, even someone as energetic as she had begun to feel a little weary.

But Albert's alchemy notes said that a pot of medicine had to be brewed for at least eight hours. In other words, by the time The Sun rose, this potion of hers would more or less be complete.

Besides, compared to lying uselessly in bed with nothing to do, what was a little boredom?

So she gritted her teeth and, while continuing to stir, took out the Basic Herbalism book she had received today.

In truth, she had already read this book once before, right at the beginning of brewing the medicine. Taking it out now was merely to review it and keep herself awake.

She had even taken the Magic Lantern from inside the house and hung it from a branch outside the door so she could read.

And sure enough.

Though the book was called "Basic," it covered everything from identifying, gathering, processing, drying, grinding, storing, and using herbs to the necessary precautions.

It also contained illustrations of quite a few E-Rank Herbs, allowing her to identify each herb more accurately.

It had to be said that this book was far more detailed than Albert's notes.

Still, his had merely been notes recording his personal experience. They naturally could not compare to a standard textbook like this.

Lan Qingyou had no complaints about that whatsoever. After benefiting from someone else, she could not bring herself to compare what they gave her with something else. That would be too shameless.

Ring-ring-ring-ring—

Just as Lan Qingyou's eyelids began to droop, the Mechanical Alarm Clock on the windowsill let out a piercing ring, startling her awake.

"Eight hours are up!"

Lan Qingyou perked up at once, immediately setting down the stirring stick before turning off the alarm.

This wind-up Mechanical Alarm Clock had also been traded for at the Trading Post, costing her twenty units of basic materials.

Since she was making Potion, she had to keep strict control over the timing.

To that end, she had even used Gathering Art three times on a nearby tree.

After obtaining the Herb Gathering Bag, gathering supplies like this had become much more convenient.

She had discovered that as long as she stayed active in the trees, there was basically no danger. Now, she even dared to leave the Shelter at night.

Don't get the wrong idea. She was just taking advantage of the fact that wolves could not climb trees.

In the Abandoned Forest, which had no Flying Magic Beasts, Lan Qingyou was living like a fish in water.

Come to think of it, why were there no bird-type magic beasts in such a huge forest?

Lan Qingyou found that strange as well. In the end, she attributed it to the Novice Protection Period.

There were magic beasts like wolf packs, but perhaps even the Will of Karim World had not expected someone to awaken a flying talent.

Sizzle—sizzle—

Lan Qingyou scooped water from the bucket with a wooden bowl and doused the flames beneath the crucible, then leaned over to inspect the contents.

The Potion in the crucible had reduced by half, and that was after she had added water once.

Otherwise, the pot might have boiled completely dry.

Still, the medicinal smell it gave off was not as strong as she had imagined.

If you enjoy this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't have trouble finding it next time.

"It should be finished, right?"

Lan Qingyou was not entirely sure, so she flew over to use Gathering Art. After putting the Wood into her Herb Bag, she returned and scooped herself a small bowlful with the wooden bowl.

After it cooled, she took a sip and stared at her status panel.

Watching her Magic Power rise, Lan Qingyou fell silent, unsure whether she should be happy or disappointed.

There was no other reason.

It had succeeded, but not completely.

Albert's notes stated that an Apprentice-Grade Mana Potion was originally supposed to restore five points of Magic Power per second for ten seconds.

That meant it could restore fifty points of Magic Power in total.

Hers, however, restored one point per second for ten seconds...

Forget it, forget it. It was her first attempt, done in a rush with incomplete tools and insufficient knowledge. Being able to make something usable was already quite good, wasn't it?

After all, she had originally been prepared to waste some herbs and make a pot of useless sludge.

Well, she might not be comparable to Albert, that great genius who had made a perfect Apprentice-Grade Mana Potion on his first day as an apprentice, but she could still be considered a little genius, right?

Thinking this, Lan Qingyou walked over to the Desk.

Now that she had made it, there was no reason not to use it.

After all, no matter how poor its quality was, a Potion was still a Potion. Selling it would at least let her recoup some of her losses.

What she needed now was a container to hold the Potion for sale.

There were Mineral Water bottles, but whenever she imagined herself taking a swig of Mineral Water to restore Magic Power after running out, she felt like she was defiling alchemy.

She could not help it. The image was just too vivid to shake off.

Of course.

The most important thing was that a 550-milliliter bottle of Mana Potion was difficult to price.

"Glass bottles won't work either. They're still too big. Shot glasses aren't convenient to carry. It would be best to have something small, easy to carry, and easy to drink from."

"Something like this fifteen-milliliter test tube would be nice. It even comes with a wooden stopper."

Hmm! Test tubes!

That was right!

Wouldn't these test tubes perfectly meet all her needs?

They were practically heaven-sent containers for Potion!

Seeing the test tubes, Lan Qingyou did not hesitate at all and bought them immediately.

A box of ten cost only one basic unit of stone.

It seemed that these things were genuinely worthless to people who had no use for them. They had been dumped so cheaply, which worked out well for her.

In fact, many items in the Trading Post were like this.

After all, Material Treasure Chests could yield all sorts of daily necessities.

There were useful survival items such as towels and Mattresses, so naturally there were also things like toothpicks and test tubes that were useless for survival.

Once the test tubes arrived, Lan Qingyou immediately poured the Potion into them, filling each one to the brim before sealing the openings with wooden stoppers.

"This should count as one Potion, right?"

Lan Qingyou looked at the blue-green liquid in the test tube and said uncertainly.

Then she simply went into the room and placed the Potion on the Small Screen.

When in doubt, seek appraisal. No matter how much she agonized over it herself, it would be useless.

[Effect: Restores 1 point of Magic Power per second for 10 seconds.]

[Description: A crudely made Mana Potion with a bloody smell. It is truly impossible to understand which master made this, and why it contains so much Potion. It is recommended that both the maker and the Potion be tossed back into the furnace and remade.]